Children’s Hearings System: statistics

The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration publish annual figures which outline the number and type of referrals each year along with decisions and outcomes.

Their latest figures, published in July 2019, cover the period 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020.

The statistics show that in 2019/20, 12,849 children and young people in Scotland were referred to the Reporter:

• 10,823 on non-offence (care and protection) grounds
• 2,840 on offence grounds

The figure of 12,849 represents 1.4% of all children and young people in Scotland. Within this, 1.2% of all children and young people were referred on care and protection grounds and 0.6% of all children and young people aged between eight and 16 years were referred on offence grounds.

In 2019/20, 21% of all children and young people referred to the Reporter were aged under 20 days and 43.3% were aged under two. The number of children and young people with Child Protection Orders (CPOs) decreased in the year (down by 2.7%), with 547 having CPOs in the year (down from 562 in 2018/19). Proportionately, more CPOs are granted for very young children (especially newborn babies), than any other age. Child Protection Orders are put in place to protect a child from actual or likely significant harm.

In the additional resources below you will find a link to a page from the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration where a full breakdown and analysis of the official statistics for year 2019/20 can be accessed.